Firefighters work with the jaws of life to open a car door during the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy's winter fire training in January 2013 at the DIxie Center in St. George.

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The Utah Fire and Rescue Academy at Utah Valley University has been training firefighters statewide since 1963, and in that time, class sizes have grown from 100 students to more than 800.

This year, academy officials are expecting approximately 1,000 students ranging from volunteer firefighters to full-time fire chiefs who will attend the more than 40 classes at the annual Winter Fire School, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Dixie Convention Center, 1835 South Convention Center Drive.